We offer suggestions for arts lovers to discover (and re-discover) established and emerging artists, musicians and performers in and around Delaware. Although we particularly like to celebrate smaller arts organizations and individuals, we cover nearly anything that strikes us or that we feel you should know about. Periodically, we welcome guest bloggers and artists to join us.

Sunday, January 3, 2016

Best of 2015: Holly's Picks

WDL's Memphis. Photo: Kristen Romero

2015 was another great year for Delaware theater, with big changes (The DuPont Theatre was sold by the DuPont Co. to The Grand in January, and Delaware Theatre Company began actually developing shows for Broadway for the first time) and big excitement -- I don’t think I went to a single show in ‘15 without a full audience. I might even go so far as to say that Delaware is in the middle of a theater Renaissance, from Community theater on up.

I get get to catch every show of 2015 -- I don’t cover Delaware Theatre Company for Stage anymore, so I’ve missed a few highly praised productions -- but I did catch a lot of great productions. Here are my top picks:

Best Drama: Nora, Delaware Theatre Company -- One of the DTC shows I did catch was Nora, based on Ingmar Bergman’s A Doll’s House, a gripping story of a Victorian-era woman learning to assert her independence. It’s productions like this that are are putting Wilmington on the map.

Best non-musical comedy: Steel Magnolias, The Candlelight Theatre -- TCT is known for high-quality musicals, so it was a surprise that my favorite of their ‘15 season was their non-musical production of Steel Magnolias, a comic drama with an all-woman cast.

Best Shakespearian: Love’s Labour’s Lost, City Theater Company -- CTC had two big shows in 2015, and while “American Idiot” got more hype, “Love’s Labour’s Lost” was the real winner for me. With an immersive stage setup and a rock soundtrack, this was not a typical production of Shakespeare by any stretch, but it was the most successful non-traditional production I’ve seen yet.

Best Summer Production: Evil Dead The Musical, Bootless Stageworks -- Bootless’ Summer Splatter Series is a Wilmington tradition, and a highlight of the summer. They’ve done Evil Dead before, but this year it was at their new location at St. Stephen’s Church on Broom Street, and showed that Ryan P.J. Mulholland may have been born to play Ash.

Best Family Show/Most Fun: Shrek The Musical, Wilmington Drama League -- With a huge all-ages cast retelling the uplifting story of triumphant misfitittery, Shrek was way more fun than I expected it to be.

Best Touring Show: Camelot, The Playhouse -- Despite rumors that The Playhouse would no longer focus on Broadway touring shows, the 15-16 season is packed with big Broadway shows. My favorite of 2015 was Camelot - the updated version of the classic musical had some of the most stunning visuals of the year.

Best Show Overall: Memphis, Wilmington Drama League -- WDL stepped their game up to a whole new level with Memphis, the Broadway musical about the birth of rock ‘n roll. Everything hit the right note: the diverse cast was amazing, the sets were atmospheric, the story was a lesson in American history as well as a lesson in the roots of rock music. Truly a Community production that was up there with the professional theaters.

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Delaware Arts Info Contributors

Michelle Kramer-Fitzgerald, blogmother. Originally from Pittsburgh and a die-hard Penn Stater, Michelle is the Owner of Arts in Media, a Delaware-based arts promotion firm, which launched this blog in June 2009. She enjoys and tries to support every genre of Arts. In her (rare) spare time, she loves to read, cook and occasionally, paint. She lives in Wilmington with her husband, Scott, and Dewey the Art Dog.

Charles "Ebbie" Alfree, III, blogbrother. Ebbie is ecstatic to be the “little brother” of Delaware Arts Info. He was voted Delaware Arts Info’s sexiest male blogger! When not performing his daily duties of development/marketing for a local non-profits, he’s in a theater somewhere on the East Coast watching a play, musical, concert or visiting a museum. If not there, look for him at the stage door waiting to meet actors. He's a "stage door whore!"

Margaret Darby, founding blogsister. Margaret majored in music in college and has continued to play for decades - trying to measure up to skills her diploma claims she already has. She is a librarian by day, enjoys theatre and arts, and wakes up every morning hoping to improve her musical listening and playing abilities.

Jessica Graae, founding blogsister. Jessica is a singer, writer and teacher, now living in Pennsylvania. She is passionate about all things Arts: music, theatre, literature, photography, painting, food and anything else fun and interesting. Jessica has written for Community News, Sodexho and STAGE Magazine. In her spare time, she is photographing her two cats, Cenny and Bianca.Holly Quinn, founding blogsister. Holly is a Delaware native with a degree in Fine Arts from Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. After returning to Delaware, she got her start covering local and national music scenes for Big Shout and What It Is magazines. She currently works as a freelance writer for sites including Holidash, Parent Dish and Pop Eater. Holly lives in Wilmington with her husband and son.